Jasmine CD JASMCD 2663, 2019
42 tracks = 78:31
Rating: ***1/2
Like the earlier release JAZZ NOIR, this CD is a collection of themes
(42 of them!) from many of
the most iconic film noir scores. But why the misleading CD title?And why the misspelling of legendary jazz musician, Miles Davis? His name is spelled correctly for track no. 41 (ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS). Just listing three composers on the cover does not give justice to the many others who are featured on this CD.
The subtitle of "The Sound of Film Noir" gives a clearer
indication of what music is on this CD.
Besides the three names listed on the CD cover,
there are also themes by these prominent Hollywood composers:
Elmer Bernstein,
Adolph Deutsch, Bernard Herrmann, David Raksin,
Miklos Rozsa,
Max Steiner, Dimitri Tiomkin, Franz Waxman,
and Roy Webb.
The themes for these films are important since they set the stage
for the story that follows in such film noir classics as:
DOUBLE INDEMNITY (Rozsa)
THE BIG SLEEP (Steiner)
SUNSET BOULEVARD (Waxman)
TOUCH OF EVIL (Mancini)
Though these are the Main Title themes of about three minutes or less
and not the full film score,
they are among the best known themes
from the film noir genre.
These recordings, both in Mono and Stereo on this CD,
were presumably gathered directly from the original soundtracks
and
all are cleanly recorded with good quality sound.
One of the popular themes is from THE THIRD MAN (1949),
here performed by the original composer and zither player, Anton Karas,
became a hit parade million-seller at that time.
There are good sleeve notes by Roger Dopson
which provide a nice summary of the film noir genre.
Just take a look at the track titles listed below from the 1940s and 1950s and see if there isn't one or more of these score themes that you would like to have in your collection.
While so many themes might be too much for some listeners,
this is still
a handy collection of the best themes of this genre
from a record label which has excelled in providing
vintage music of all kinds.
The CD is recommended especially to film noir fans.
-- Roger Hall, Film Music Review
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